Decisions decisions decisions…..

Things have definitely took a turn for the better, I have finished my dissertation, chose to cut my hours in work, and really feel less stressed about life 🙂

My daughter is healthy, she is teaching herself potty training! She just out of nowhere told us she needed a weewee and we took her the toilet and since then, things have been progressing.

Now the hard part:

I have been speaking to someone who found a post of mine about wanting to do a boat project. He knows of a 26 foot MacWester that is about to be scuttled and I have been granted permission to take possession of her.

Heres the problem, she has no engine and would have to be transported here (about 300 miles) which I have the money here to do, she needs an engine and fitted which I have the money here to do, and she needs a home. My girlfriend thinks that we would be stretching things if we took her to a Marina for a mooring. I agree that times would be tight for a few months, but as I am about to Graduate, surely a graduate position will increase my income and allow for something like this?

I really dont know what to do, she needs a new engine and a good paint, and then she will be shipshape, I don’t have a garden to store her (well, I do but if the locals see a boat in our garden the house would be robbed followed by the boat!) and if I chose the mooring, then we will have to cut back on luxuries until I get a new job.

The other option is to continue saving until we are in a much better position to buy something a little newer.
I open the question to my readers, what would you do?

This is her:

Very confused!

Day 124

This is just a quick update as I am supposed to be doing my dissertation.

I just looked at my stats and it comes to light that I have had 63 page views yesterday! And since midnight, I have had 11 views already today! (It’s now 00:58)

What I would like to know is where is everyone coming from? lol If you could reply on here I would very much appreciate that, dont worry, I dont do a mailing list so your email is safe from spam….at least from me anyway lol

Tia is coming along nicely, she now can climb up and climb off our couch, this causes her nan no end of worries lol I cant wait to see her in her lifejacket, heaving on a rope helping her Dad to tack 🙂 Or maybe just pushing the tenders out 🙂 Or just making a cup of tea with her mum!

I keep saying I will add some new pics of her, but I never have time anymore, I promise I will add them later today!

Ok, thats all for now, hope you all are having a lovely day

Tony

Interesting

Day 115

Spent the day with a good friend today, the mother in law took Tia for the day whilst Trisha and I went aboard a Beneteau 473 as we sailed up and down the River Mersey 🙂

I say up and down, I dont mean length ways, I actually mean width ways! Due to the low cross winds, we had to tack to and from each side of the Mersey just to get anywhere! Took 4 hours to sail about a mile! But it was all good as we was only aboard to give Trisha a taste of life on a boat. She even got her hands dirty with a few rope pulls, tying up to a lock, helping lower the mainsail, making lots of cups of tea and at one point, I think she even tidied up the ropes! Good work Trisha.

Trisha was all wrapped up but still complained about the cold (it was 10 degrees celsius) and I started to believe that the dream was over!

I was worried, because this was the first true real obstacle for our dream. Getting her out to sea.

The night before, I calmly told her that there was no pressure on her, if she didnt like it, I wanted her to tell me, yes it would hurt, but we would move on, she means too much to me to carry on regardless of her feelings. I would never go without her or Tia and I don’t have the experience (or courage) to actually go alone.

She kept her thoughts to herself, but I did see a glimpse of a smile every now and again. I made a few errors myself, I untied a rope that was keeping us in place, I was curling up cables too small, and my hat wasnt big enough for my head! Trisha had to remind me on a few occassions to curl up the excess rope after tacking…….

After we helped pack up and stowed everything away, we gave our friends tea bags, sugar, milk and a crate of Budweiser as a thank you for his kindness. We met after he contacted me after reading about Trisha having no experience on a boat at all (except the Mersey ferry lol) If the world had more people like him, it would be a better place! I wish I could tell you his name, but we both feel that others might try and milk his kindness for their own needs and he doesnt need that, noone does. All I will say is thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness Mr Beneteau 🙂

We climbed into my car to go home and pick up Tia and Trisha turned to me and said “I liked it” Those 3 words said it all 🙂

Should I stay or should I go?

Day 110

Invitations are coming at me thick and fast!

I have been invited to spend the day on a Beneteau 31 this coming Saturday on the condition that I listen to a sales pitch
I have been invited to join a few friends from Cruisers Forum on Wednesday to finally put a name to the faces, one is coming from Kuwait for the meet! I have asked for time off in work to go so we will see.

Tia is developing into her own person now, she is talking, walking (just) and generally being spoilt by her aunties and grandparents! She hasnt been well recently, we have had 4 sleepless nights in a row and my sister has just turned up to take her off us for the night 🙂 Bless her

The other invitation I have received needs no answer to the blogs title “Should I stay or should I go?” The boss has invited me to a nice bar/restaurant for a meal. He is paying so I am now getting ready to go! Meal starts in 30 mins 🙂

The final thing I wanted to talk about was my dissertation for Uni. I have landed on my feet on this one. As part of our Coursework, we are given 3 real world companies who are looking for a website, we have to design it for one of them, and then they each select the best design that was created for them and then pay for the design to be created.

For my dissertation, I have to take the winning design and code it into a different language! I also have to try and design it for them myself, so if my style is chosen, I get paid for it, then I get paid for doing the new language, if it is not chosen, then I still get paid for the new language 🙂

The downside is that the site is owned by my tutors friend, so I have to be on my best behaviour lol

You can keep up with my progress on this site

Hope to see you there.

Here I am

Day 89

Why oh why does time stand still?
Why oh why does money not grow on trees?
Why oh why do children get chicken pox?

These are some of the questions I have been asking myself recently. Poor Tia has flu-like symptoms which mysteriously appeared the day my nephew came out in spots. He was diagnosed with Chicken Pox, my 14 month old daughter found out and all of a sudden had a temperature. Magic? Coincidence? lol

I’m back in University now completing my degree in web design and already inundated with work. I have also had a 1-to-1 with my project mentor about what I want to do for my dissertation. Basically, we have to do a subject that is web based, and it makes it easier if we have an interest in the subject.

After a while, it was decided that boating/yachting/living the dream was my target subject and specifically families living aboard. He has given me 2 weeks to decide how I can implement Families living at sea into a web based project. My idea is an Apple iPhone App of some sort. Does anyone have any ideas for me? Anything? Doesn’t have to be an iPhone app. Could just be a simple website for a family at sea (anyone want a website built for free? lol)

Hope someone can help

Tony

Sat here all alone :(

Work sent me 200 miles away from my home and family for this week 😦

We are doing an exhibit at the country’s largest recycling show in Birmingham, UK. Been away from them for 3 days and even though I enjoy the solitude, I kinda miss them 2 lumps of flesh that I call my family!

Anyway, sorry I haven’t been updating but will get back on it as soon as I get back this weekend. I know I keep apologising for my disappearing acts, but I have just been up the wall. Things will get back to normal soon…..I hope!

When I get back, I will tell you about the Southampton Boat Show that we visited. A great time was had by all and will definitely be going back again next year!

Off to bed now for an early night, good night to my readers 🙂

No internet!

Sorry for the lack of updates, Virgin broadband decided to shut down in my area for a while! lol

Heres my update:

Trisha loved our trip to the Beneteau. We didnt go sailing on her but I’m hopeful of getting her feet wet sometime soon. Our friend told us about a recent mishap he had with his expensive yacht! Whilst coming back through the locks to get into Liverpool Marina, the bottom scraped and he ran aground! Apparantly, it happens to about 80% of boats at the Marina. He told me about the racers who all sit on the port side whilst they come through the lock to lean the keel away from the floor! Maybe my friend could use my weight to shift the bottom next time he goes out? lol

I entered a cometition with those kind people at Sailtime and somehow won! “What did you win?” I hear you ask…….”A Beneteau? A Bavaria? A RIB? A years free Sailtime membership? A weeks free charter?” Nope, all wrong! I won………wait for it………..2 VIP tickets to the Southampton Boat Show!!! lol Just need to find the money for petrol to get down there.

Trisha has told me she wants to come with me so we are going tomorrow for the day. I have plans to register on the try a boat section to get her out on the water….wish us luck.

During my downtime, I managed to read a small blog about a young family who are looking to live aboard very soon. They bought a 1968 Ohlson 41 and document their time setting everything up. The post count is low, in fact, there is only 5 updates, but these posts are all informative with plenty of pictures. They mention things you dont really think about, like for example, choosing the right fabrics for Logan’s sleeping area. I am a bit worried about them though, the last update was August 21st and was entitled “1 week and still floating!”

I hope thats still the case! Has anyone heard from them? I am looking forward to their upcoming updates. A blog with potential if it is updated regularly. You can find it here Its called the Spirit of Kaizen.

Bricking it

Just on my way to meet Trisha now. We have been invited to step aboard a Beneteau for Trisha to see the insides.

She has never been onboard a boat before (not including ferries lol) so this kind gesture can finally show Trish how cramped life would be at sea.

God I hope she likes it otherwise the dream could be over before it really even started!

Wish me luck……….

Day 60….actually, I think these titles need to be more informative from now on

Recently, I have been reading Rebel Heart

This is a nice blog about a young couple who are planning everything ready for sail. The blog is split into two parts, his blog (Eric) and her blog (Charlotte) and recently, they added a new member of the crew, baby Cora.

Eric’s blog is as you can probably expect, is mainlye about the work that needs doing. Eric is a coder, and a few blog entries are his .NET codings, I found these interesting as I come from a similar background, but I can imagine people like Trisha skipping past these entries.

I havent read Charlottes entries yet as I am still trying to catch up on Eric’s side, but I did see the birthing pictures and after seeing a real live birth in person, I am thankful to Charlotte for not posting any of the more…………graphical pics! Child birth is enough to put anyone off sex for life! lol I never thought I would mention sex in any of my blog entries! This is a first!

I found Rebel Heart whilst reading a post in Cruisers Forums and I enjoyed the authors comments, so I looked up his blog and started reading.

Its a fascinating insight into the world of cruisers, how they find their money, how setbacks can affect different people and how they managed to Live The Dream I especially liked the story about the hit-and-run and how they tracked him down! Overall its a good read, but I don’t think I agree with Eric’s opinions on drugs 😉

Go give it a read 🙂

Day 55

I have noticed today that I havent really shown any pictures of my crew!

So I will try and get a few uploaded for you, but in the meantime, here is a picture of my little princess Tia 🙂

Please mind the mess, this is my office and everything gets dumped in here and there is no room to decorate it!!! lol

As you can see, she is actually commenting on my Facebook status!!! This is what she typed:

Drlrkrkkfjrkleel;fffffffr#rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruio0o-oi90utu9

And roughly translated:

Daddy, I cant wait to live aboard with you and mommy

Here is one of my favourite pics:

Will be back soon with more pics